The Failure of Restraint
by DigitalSaiyan
Summary: "Ah! Worthy's awake!" The sound of boots against cement suddenly filled his ears. "No!" a different voice gasped. "Don't touch him!" 'Wright...' non-con
1. Caught in His Web

This is HIGHLY um... sensitive content, as in Non-Con as in Non-consensual as in rape.

Originally written for the PW Kink meme to the prompt:_ Phoenix is somehow brainwashed into raping Miles. _

_Disclaimer: Characters belong to Capcom_

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

**Caught in His Web**

Miles awoke to the sound of a scream.

His eyes flew open on their own accord and frantically tried to focus on anything familiar. It was pitch black. No. He blinked, and felt the rough material his eyelashes brushed against. There was something obscuring his vision.

He went to shift his body and felt hard, cold, concrete underneath him. As his body slowly regained consciousness, he became aware of the coarse bindings against his wrists. He shuddered and cold panic washed over him. His whole body ached from the hard floor, he could faintly smell chloroform, and he felt dizzy and weak every time his lungs filled with oxygen.

There was a faint echo of what sounded like footsteps, then another scream, and a voice. Miles' ears strained as he willed past the pain to focus on the sound.

"Let us go! We did _nothing _to you!" It was a male's voice. Desperate and filled with pain, but even more important; it was familiar.

The only reply was laughter.

Miles' unwillingly let out a pained grunt as he shifted again against the ground. The sudden silence that followed his small movement, caused his heart to quicken in anticipation.

"Ah! Worthy's awake!"

The sound of that voice was familiar too, but he couldn't place it. Although it caused tight knots to form in his stomach. The sound of boots against cement suddenly filled his ears.

"No!" The voice gasped. "Don't touch him!"

_Wright_

Miles sucked in a sharp breath, when a large hand settled on his neck. The fingers flexed and began stroking in mock affection. Miles couldn't do anything to shy away from the touch, and instead found himself trying to focus on Phoenix's condition. Was he okay? Was he tied up the same way?

The large fingers moved up to the back of his neck and Miles felt them fiddling with what could only be the knot of his blindfold. Sure enough, the material loosened and fell away from his eyes, at the same time a familiar chuckle filled the room.

Miles ground his teeth, and ignored the Police Chief to scan what looked like a rundown warehouse for his friend.

When his eyes found his, Miles felt his heart skip a beat. Phoenix was sitting against the opposite wall where dark bruises lined his arms that were tied behind him. A collar with a chain was fastened to his neck that was linked to the wall, his neck stressed against it causing the chain to grow taunt. A fierce expression was set in his eyes that Miles only saw on rare occasions in the court room, when they both found themselves in a dangerous situation.

The hand on his neck suddenly tightened and choked Miles' breath off.

"No!"

"No?"A loud laugh, but the pressure on his neck let up. Miles sucked in a breath.

"How Wonderful!" Gant's gloved hands clapped together, as if he just had a brilliant idea. The overly large man walked in slow loud movements to the defense attorney. Phoenix's glare didn't falter at all, even as the man unfastened the chain from the wall and let the man fall roughly to the ground, his hands still bound behind him. Gant didn't give him any time to recover before grasping an upper arm and forcing him to his feet, only to push him in the general direction of Miles. Phoenix winced in pain, but didn't resist the shove, he collapsed to the ground soon after he had reached the other man. Concerned, worried eyes found the others, but neither of them knew what to say.

"Now, I really hate to draw all this out, all these unpleasentaries, so let us get to the point." Gant chuckled briefly before turning sober.

"You my friend," He gestured vaguely to Phoenix, "... are to take Worthy here from behind."

Phoenix's mind went blank, his naivety turning the question into a confusing structure of nouns and verbs. _Take him from behind? _Phoenix frowned, and turned a questioning look to Miles who shivered and went pale, his head falling forward slightly to cover his eyes with silver hair.

Gant leaned in to Phoenix as if to whisper a secret. "I'm quite sure he will thoroughly enjoy it."

It clicked and Phoenix went pale too. He clenched his jaw and the hands behind his back tightened into fists and his eyes turned in a glare aimed at Gant. He could feel the sickening emotions of anger and hatred bubble up in his stomach.

Gant looked innocently taken aback from the lawyer's reaction. "Come now. You wouldn't want to do anything you would regret." Gant chided walking back over to them with sickening thumps of his boots, waving his gun casually.

When Gant reached them he swiftly pulled Miles up by his cravat to a kneeling position. Miles didn't make a sound as Gant's fingers unclenched from his cravat and swiftly slid down to the button on his pants.

Phoenix's head reeled with madness "You Bastard!" he shouted in a panic, "You SICK Bastard!" Phoenix screamed again, and tried to shift his body to shield Miles from Gant's reach.

"That's enough!" Gant snapped up straight, a look of pure hatred flashed across his eyes, and the gun was brought up and aimed at the ground beside them. The trigger clicked and a bullet exploded in the pavement, causing chunks of cement and debris to plume up in a cloud. Another click and another bullet was loaded into the docking bay.

"You do not fuck with me boy!" He growled.

Phoenix stunned, pushed his body further against Miles, just in time to feel shudders run through the silver haired man's body.

Silence doused the room for a few moments, all that could be heard was heavy breathing, and the feel of a terrible power struggle. Gant smirked in a sickening way, before his big meaty hand came down and grabbed Phoenix's dress shirt collar and tossed him hard to the floor. Phoenix hit with a gasp, his hands unable to shield him.

"Now, where were we?" Gant asked innocently, approaching Miles, expertly undoing the prosecutor's belt then zipper before yanking them down to unveil black silk boxers. Except for a sharp intake of air, Miles hardly moved even when he heard this pants hit the floor and one of Gants large hands land roughly to cup him.

Phoenix painfully sat up just in time to witness the event. Fresh blood trailed from his newly cut lip, to run down his jaw. The silence in the room was thick for a few moments as Gant took the opportunity to harshly fondle the prosecutor.

Gant stopped his ministrations and with a chuckle pressed hard on Miles' shoulder to force him to the ground. Miles bound and still weak from the chloroform had no ability to resist.

Phoenix was then pulled from his daze by the feel of large hands stripping him of his pants. His boxers were next to go, they were harshly torn off his body as Gant took an object from his pocket. One large hand holding the coarse ropes bound around his wrists as the other brought a needle filled with a strange blue liquid into sight. Bringing it to his lips, Gant slipped the plastic cover off with his teeth, before holding it perpendicular to the ceiling and letting a small stream of liquid push any bubbles out.

Colbat eyes wide, and mouth slightly agape, Phoenix was paralyzed by the hand clenched painfully around his wrists. He squeezed his eyes shut once he realized where the needle was headed. Sure enough, a painful prick, and Phoenix experienced a strange feeling as a rush of foreign liquid was forced into his cock.

Pulling the needle out, Gant tossed the syringe to the floor to shatter in a burst of sparkly glass. The lights in the warehouse made a low humming noise and flickered a few times, casting eerie shadows of the giant man across the stark grey walls.

Phoenix barely registered his wrists being freed, as a heavy sickening feeling over took him. A sharp almost awakening, as his skin seemed to register everything around him. The feel of dried blood caking his wrists, the fabric of his shirt, and heated metal around his neck. Everything was magnified. Including the feel of the barrel of a gun as it was levelled against his head.

"Your turn." Gant smirked deviously, flashing his large white teeth.

Phoenix, still situated on the floor where Gant had thrown him didn't move, only clenched and unclenched his jaw, his gaze flickering to fix on Miles' face. His head turned just enough to register the gun against the lawyer's head.

"Wright..." Miles mumbled in a pained voice.

Their eyes met and Phoenix's heart seemed to tear. A constricting feeling of not being able to breath and breathing too quickly almost made him pass out, when suddenly, Gant's hand came back to clench around his bruised upper arm and drag him back to the prosecutor. All the while a sickening heat kept building in his groin.

"Wright." Miles mumbled again, "Just do it."

Phoenix's blood froze in his veins and his chest constricted. He didn't like the feeling that was running through his body. His mind seemed to shutdown, as blood drained from it to fill other parts. Thoughts of how they were going to get out of this situation got sucked into this white hot void. His body felt like lead, so hot, and so heavy.

Risking a glance down, he caught sight of his erect cock. He was aroused but there was no pleasure involved, just a sweltering heat that kept getting more painful by the second. He gritted his teeth and let out a frustrated growl. Letting a clenched fist fall lax, he couldn't stop it from moving south to harshly stroke his arousal. It was a helpless and alienated feeling. His mind was screaming at him, some words, something about... he swallowed, and before he could fully understand just what he was doing, Phoenix had wrapped his hands around Miles' waist and slid across the silk.

Gant was doing his part to hold the prosecutor at bay. The barrel of the gun cocked and aimed at the darker haired man, and the flash of a warning glare, was all it took for him to remain in the embarrassing position with his face and knees on the floor.

It seemed like Phoenix was just watching everything his own hands did. He hated the feel of not being in control of himself, but at the same time, he loved the feel of Miles trembling beneath him. The power was sinking in, and Phoenix's focus seemed to tunnel to only what was before him. He was breathing heavier when he reached around Miles' boxers and fondled him through the silk material, he felt more than heard the gasp the prosecutor made. It shouldn't have, but it spurred him on. He trailed his hands to the end of the fabric and slipped his fingers underneath them. His own hands looked oddly alien, bruised and dark and bleeding, but Miles' skin, as he pulled down his boxers, was so pale and smooth and untarnished.

A knot of anticipation was forming in his stomach when the prosecutor's boxers slipped to the floor, and he was left with a very nice view. Stroking himself, he guided his wet cock between Miles' legs and let it rest against the crevice. He thrust himself against the trembling body, and reeled in pleasure against the muffled moan and tremble that came from beneath him. His knees were painfully digging into the rough cement, but he ignored it, and the haughty booming laughter that echoed off the walls. His attention sharp and focused on only one thing, he led his throbbing cock to its destination, and moved his hands so he was in a better position to grip the silver haired man's waist.

Clenching his jaw and squeezing his eyes, he pushed forward.

The resistance was awful but so good, as he struggled past the ring of muscle and forced his cock inside the tight passage.

Miles cried out against the painful intrusion. His body fighting violently to get it out, his teeth biting into his lip to muffle his screams.

Phoenix was shaking, finally fully enveloped by the warm constricting muscle. He thrust his hips forward and started a slow pulsing rhythm. The prosecutor's hips rocked forward as Phoenix pulled them forcefully against his cock.

Chuckling from the side, Gant watched the glazed-over pained expression of the defense attorney, and its counterpart most definitely displayed on the prosecutor's, as the man repeatedly thrust himself deep inside him. Surprised by the erotic pained sounds that were coming from Worthy's mouth, but disappointed that the prosecutor was not begging for him to stop. Gant was still very pleased to see the situation unfold, as he gently stroked the silver of his gun with a black gloved thumb.

Shuddering, Phoenix spent himself inside the other man. A pained cry coming from both of them simultaneously, Miles forced to a painful orgasm against his will, felt his teeth break through the soft skin of his lip as a warm liquid filled him inside and splashed across his abdomen and jacket outside.

Miles felt Phoenix's weight fall against him, and fell with him, shaking too much to hold them both up. However, it was almost immediately alleviated when Phoenix seemed to realize what he was doing. Pulling away from him sharply, Miles felt a twisting sickness in his stomach when the man pulled out.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god…" Phoenix mumbled over and over in quiet breaths as he hurried to pull his body off the prosecutor, he fell back to the ground his hands catching him on the concrete. The drug seemed to have spent itself with his climax, leaving Phoenix to fend for himself when his mind came rushing back to his body. He could hear laughter somewhere off in the distance, but ignored it, instead focusing his attention on the man in front of him.

Miles was silent, but shaking slightly and had fully collapsed to the ground. Phoenix didn't know what to do. Nothing he had ever experienced had prepared him to deal with the aftermath of a situation quite like this. His mind couldn't reconcile his actions, drugged or not. And he realized with sickening realization that nothing would fix it.

Phoenix caught sight of blood and tiny sparkles when he went to untie the knot that bound Miles' wrists together. It felt like a hundred tiny papercuts had shredded his skin. In his hurry to back off he must have set his hands on the glass from the needle. He turned his mind away from it, and grasped the coarse rope, his fingers working desperately to undo it. _Why the fuck did he have to tie it so tight? _His fingers, slick with blood, kept slipping from the material making it difficult to keep a decent grasp. After a few more moments of struggling he finally got it loosened enough to unbind it.

He was suddenly also aware that their pants were still off. Moving quickly, Phoenix redressed the prosecutor as best as he could, but the pain and blood on his hands made it impossible to redo the button to his pants. Miles moved to a sitting position and took over what he started. They both felt the change in atmosphere and realized that Gant was gone. Miles silently retrieved the remainder of Phoenix's own clothing and, without looking at him, handed them over. Phoenix felt a sickening pressure in his chest constrict when he realized that Miles was unable to make eye contact with him. Nothing would fix this.

Phoenix took his clothes back and got dressed to the best of his ability. Miles noticed Phoenix's hands and reached over to help do up the other mans pants. He could feel the defense's gaze on him as he was doing it, but he just couldn't bring himself to look at the other man. His physical pain was worse than he had ever felt, yet his emotional pain over the entire situation topped it by far. He knew it wasn't Phoenix's fault. Whatever blackmarket drug that bastard had given him, had taken away all of his control. Yet this changed everything between them, and he wasn't sure how to fix it.

"You need to get medical treatment for your hands." Miles whispered, breaking the silence. Phoenix looked at them strangely and shook his head, "It's nothing, they'll heal." he mumbled, alluding to the wounds they would both carry from that day onward that wouldn't.

Nothing would fix this.

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><p>I couldn't help but take this farther than the prompt. So there will be at least one <em>maybe <em>two, more chapters. :D


	2. Everything to Save

Thanks for the reviews/faves/alerts etc. They really make my day :D

For now this story is marked as complete. Eventually that might change, but so far I have nothing planned. So! enjoy the -probably, maybe, potentially - last chapter.

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Everything to Save

_Something was very wrong._

Miles was sitting at his desk going over his regular paper work, busy preparing for another case. Which would make his fourth this week and it was only Wednesday. After the event two weeks ago, he had submersed himself in work, taking on as many cases as he possibly could. They served two purposes; as a distraction, and outlet for his anger. He always felt satisfied getting another criminal locked up. Of course thanks to Phoenix he took better precautions to ensure they were guilty, if they weren't, that was fine too. Somehow that man had taught him how to make the truth come out in court.

but today something was off.

He hadn't spoken much to the defence attorney since that had happened. A couple times, including today, he had run into him at the precinct office. They exchanged brief greetings, but Miles still couldn't meet the man's eyes.

Miles sighed when he realized he had been reading the same sentence over again. He was beyond tired to the point of almost delusional, but felt it was almost a necessity that he stay awake. Nightmares aside, he felt like he owed society to work harder, so criminals like Gant were put away. People like that should never be allowed to rise to such powerful positions.

Maybe that was all it was. Maybe he was just overworked, but still, something was nagging at him. It felt like he had forgotten something important

He let his eyes fall closed, but they were almost instantly startled open by a myoclonic twitch, making him aware of how much he needed sleep.

He had to figure out what was causing his uneasiness. When had it begun? Clearly there was uneasiness regarding the entire situation he had recently been put through, but this felt different. Felt more recent.

He had seen Phoenix today. His mind perked at the thought. Yes that was it, something about that. Of course it had something to do with Phoenix Wright. For some reason it seemed everything gravitated toward him. … _and always had._

He shook his head to clear the thought, and tried to focus on what he had seen today. He had walked into the precinct and ran into that man. There was something _else_… something the man had _done_ that had -!

It all came back to him with frightening clarity. He had greeted the man with a sharp, "Wright" and a nod of the head, all while keeping his eyes looking somewhere past his shoulder. But what struck him as odd was he didn't get the usually, "Edgeworth" reply back. He hadn't said anything. At first Miles thought he didn't hear him, causing him to glance back.

He felt something squeeze painfully in his chest, as he remembered the look the defence attorney had on his face. He hadn't moved, it was as if the man was frozen to the spot. His head had dropped to gaze at the floor. Miles could only see his profile, but it was enough. His face contorted in anguish… but his eyes, his eyes were different.

Like something had died inside of him.

Miles felt that painful stir in his chest again. He bit his lip, and ran his fingers through his hair. It was probably nothing, but something about that look reminded him of himself that day he left that note_. _He realized there was no use fighting the feeling down. And found himself already standing to reach for his long overcoat. A glance at the clock told him it was way too late to be doing this at half past ten. But, there was no stopping that feeling, if he could just see that he was ok, that would be enough.

Decided, he left his office in a rush. For the first time ever, completely forgetting to lock the door.

He had only been to Phoenix's apartment once before, during a case, but was relieved to remember that his room had an outside entrance. Also it was a few flights up, high enough to make what Miles was currently doing hidden from the street.

During his cases he had experience with breaking and entering. He didn't like to call it that though, as there was nothing _breaking _about the way the unfolded paperclips caused the lock to fall back into place with a quiet click.

Satisfied with his work, he slowly opened the door. It was dark, which was fortunate because he was depending on the man being asleep. He would just slip in, check that he was safely in bed, then leave. He had a vague idea as to the layout from his last visit. He remembered that the entrance opened up to a living room, beyond that was a kitchen and dining area. And dividing the two was a hallway leading to two bedrooms, (one used as an office) and a bathroom.

He slipped off his shoes, and proceeded down the hall. His stomach tightened when he noticed that there was a faint light coming in that direction. Walking toward it, he found the door to Phoenix's bedroom to be open. His bedroom was dark, but there was still the faint light coming somewhere in the room to the left. He gingerly stepped inside and took a cursory glance around. To his right was a bed, a quick sweep of his eyes concluded it to be empty, much to his disappointment. To the left was a large alcove, like a doorless walk in closet. Most of it hidden from his view at his current angle, but he suspected that just off that there was an en-suite bathroom. He felt himself relax visibly at the thought that the darker haired man was just getting ready for bed. He nodded and turned to leave. But something stopped him.

It wasn't good enough, he had to see him.

Turning back, he proceeded a few steps further so he could look properly around the corner of the alcove. Something caught his visions accent to the door.

He sucked in a sharp breath.

The dim light was coming from the bathroom just beyond, door cracked just enough to let in a small amount of light. But it was enough.

Phoenix was there, on the floor. His dress shirt rumbled, and tie hanging loosely undone around his neck. It only took a second for Miles to recognize that same expression on his face he had displayed earlier. Anguish washed over his face, eyes glazed over and staring blindly at the floor.

Miles took a step forward, his breath catching in his throat, and instantly those eyes snapped up to meet his for the first time in weeks. Miles felt a clamp around his heart but fought past it, and pressed forward. The defence attorney was silent, his mouth slightly agape and his eyes wide and shocked like a deer caught in headlights.

Miles tried to swallow past the lump in his throat, but suddenly found his mouth too dry for such an action to be possible. A question floated between them. Wordlessly, but that look gave the message clearly; _what are you doing here? _

Miles lowered himself to a kneeling position a few feet before the other man, and had to break eye contact before he was able to answer. "I… I had to come give you some paperwork" Miles lied, the most reasonable explanation presenting itself.

His eyes slid back up to meet the defence but the man had already turned away from him again. Once more focusing on a spot somewhere in front of him.

_Oh. So that's it. _Phoenix thought bitterly, hating himself more than he had hated anyone in the entire world. Gant included. Edgeworth being there didn't change anything. The man would be gone soon enough, and then he would be alone again. The thought was reassuring, more so was the weight his hand.

"Leave it there then." Phoenix monotoned, his voice sounding foreign and strangely emotionless to his own ears. Out of his peripheral vision he saw the prosecutor flinch slightly. But other than that, the man made no other movements. Phoenix sighed exasperatedly, but didn't make an attempt to look at the man again. That look on his face when he had looked up to meet Miles' eyes for the first time in weeks had been like that of a wounded animal. He had hurt the man so unforgivably. Only this could fix it.

_Why isn't he leaving? _Phoenix's mind screamed at him. He tightened his grip on the solid weight in his hand, and felt reassurance flood him, cold and icy.

There was more silence, and then, "Wright… what happened that night was…"

Phoenix shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, "No" he commanded sharply. He couldn't hear this, whatever the prosecutor wanted to say, it wouldn't be good. Either he would feed him a lie, that he was fine, it wasn't his fault. And attempt to reassure him with falsities, even though the other man was dying inside. Or maybe Miles would just give him the truth, how destroyed he was, humiliated, how he could never stand to look at, or be near, him again.

After everything they had been through together, how unfair was it that it would come to this? How had everything in his life he had fought for, the man he had saved, the truth they had set upon to find together. How could all of that come crashing down in one night?

This time he felt hands on his shoulders, and gasped lightly when his body was turned more fully to his adversary. Miles' almost immediately gave a sharp jerk back like he had been electrocuted, and took a sharp intake of breath

Phoenix grit his teeth. He had seen it. A quick glance up confirmed his suspicion. An absolute look of horror had crossed the silver haired man's face, his eyes fixed resolutely on the dangerous object clutched in Phoenix's hand.

"Where did you get that?" Miles demanded in a sharp, quiet whisper.

Phoenix didn't answer his question, "Please leave" he commanded in the most authoritative voice he could. Still it came out more monotone than anything.

"That's… a…" was Miles' eloquent reply.

"Yes." Phoenix replied, while flicking the safety off and loading a bullet into the chamber. The silver metallic surface glinted as he raised it slowly to his head, "Now please leave," he whispered the rest as a half warning-half plea, "you don't want to be around for this."

A tense silence followed as Miles thought of something to say. The sickening feeling was rising and his chest was constricting painfully, "Don't… Phoenix… please…" his tongue darted out to lick his dry lips, "put it down…. please, just put it down." Following DL-6 Miles had never begged anyone in his life. Nothing had warranted that kind of grovelling reaction from him. Not even that night two weeks ago. He'd didn't think he'd be able to ever admit this to Phoenix but that wasn't the first time Gant had done something like that with him.

He could handle that, all off it. It all paled drastically in comparison to this moment. This moment when Phoenix had that look on his face, like nothing mattered any more. A look that signified he had given up completely, an incredibly unstable Phoenix that had a .40 cal glock pressed tightly to his temple. The silver glowing like white fire even in the dim light.

Miles never thought he would see such a distressed Phoenix in his life. It was so uncharacteristic, that it made the entire situation that much more serious.

Phoenix wasn't looking at him again, and Miles stayed as still as he could so nothing surprised the ebony haired man. Miles had training in this, but he had never had to use it out in the field. It was an important thing to know in case a key witness needed to be talked off a ledge. But this wasn't a key witness. This was Phoenix. _Phoenix. _And the canned textbook phrases he learned felt like ash on his tongue, "You don't want to do this" he heard himself mumbling.

Phoenix gave no response to that. Which made sense because it was a blatant lie. He _did _want to do it. If he didn't he wouldn't be. Miles was feeling extreme panic sink in. If he lost him, if he lost this man….

"Phoenix." Miles shifted slightly forward, "Phoenix, look at me." For a few painful moments nothing happened, but then slowly dead blue eyes found his. As much as he wanted to, Miles didn't look away. He only had one chance at this, and he would have to be as careful as he would be disarming a bomb. No mistakes.

He took a steadying breath and tried again, "I know what you're trying to do. I know what you think this will accomplish," Miles slowly shook his head without breaking eye contact, "but you're wrong. Doing this is only going to make a lot of people very upset."

Phoenix flicked his gaze to the floor, the blue of his eyes disappearing beneath his dark eyelashes. His breathing so shallow black spots were dancing in front of his eyes. His brows pressed together gently. "I can't…" he mumbled and closed his eyes fully, his long eyelashes almost brushing his cheek, "… after that… what I did…" he gave a sharp shake of his head. Miles took in a sharp breath, not liking how careless Phoenix was being with the firearm.

Phoenix was quiet for a few moments before lowering his voice till it was almost impossible to hear, "and you mean… so much to me."

Miles bit his lip at that and watched the way Phoenix's hand tightened around the handle. "So you're going to abandon me then?" Miles questioned harshly in a quiet tone. He was suddenly feeling overwhelmingly betrayed.

The attorney's eyes flickered up to his once again, widening slightly in shock.

Miles moved slightly forward, and moved his hand slowly to Phoenix's empty hand that was clutched tightly at his side. "How can you say I matter to you, when you know this will hurt me?" The darker haired man shifted his weight faintly when the prosecutor reached his hand. "You may not realize this, but you are the only friend I have." Miles whispered next, trying to convey his full feelings.

"Don't say something you can't mean." Phoenix said quietly.

"I do mean it." Miles slid his hand slowly up Phoenix's sleeved arm.

Phoenix took in a pained breath, "Please, just let me go" he begged, small shudders starting to overtake his body.

"I can't do that." Miles grasped his shoulder, "you want a punishment for what you did to me?" Miles eyes hardened when he caught Phoenix's gaze just then, the man was staring back into his eyes, brows furrowed slightly, waiting quietly for his sentence to be handed. Miles briefly clenched his jaw, he knew his next words could possibly have the opposite effect that he intended, but he was down to two red wires and time was running out.

"Dying is an easy thing to do. If you want to solve the problem you have to accept what you did…" Miles took a shaky breath, "and live with it."

Tense silence followed. Miles' heart pulsed pain through his body with every beat. In this situation Phoenix could be attempting suicide for only two possible reasons. The first was he thought by removing himself from the picture Miles' could live in peace. Not worrying about running into him again. Not having to be reminded of those terrible moments every time he saw his face. The second was that Phoenix didn't want to suffer with the memory of what he did, and even though Miles would still be there suffering when he was gone, at least Phoenix didn't have to see it. The former Miles was counting on as not applying to him, considering the inhumanely selflessness he had displayed through his whole life.

…but if it did, Miles just pushed him off the edge.

Miles kept an intense watch on his friend, he knew of course that he had no chance of stopping Phoenix should he decide to press the trigger, but that wouldn't stop him from trying. Phoenix's eyes slowly fell away from his, and his face relaxed into an unreadable mask. Miles let the hand that was settled on Phoenix's shoulder slip around it into sort of a half embrace, and used it to pull his shaking form slightly closer to his own body. Phoenix didn't offer any resistance, but he didn't move either, the gun was still pressed against his head, being held by a shaking hand. Miles brought his other hand up and lightly touched the material of the loose tie around his neck. Watching his features, Phoenix stayed paralyzed except for wetness that started to languidly trail down his cheeks. Keeping his hand against the other man's skin the entire time to reassure him of where he was, Miles slowly moved his hand to trail up the man's neck and face until he was able to brush away some tears with his thumb. It didn't do much, save for an attempt at a comforting gesture, as more replaced them immediately.

"This doesn't have to be the end." Miles whispered soothingly, tentatively moving the hand against Phoenix's face and moving it upward slightly to brush some stray hairs out of the way. When he got no response he held his breath and dared to go a bit further. Moving his other hand in soft reassuring circles against Phoenix's back, he let his other hand move to the hand holding the gun. His skin was cold, and probably numb, with how long he had been holding it up. Miles wasn't even sure if the attorney was aware he was there.

Once Miles was touching the heated metal he let his breath go between clenched teeth. He let his lungs empty as far as they could, and held it, more on instinct than purpose. The first thing Miles did when he grasped the shaft of the gun was turn it away from the defence attorney. The only direction that left was towards him, but even that had him breathing in a breath of semi relief.

His reflexes kicking into over drive Miles eased the gun from Phoenix's hand, the other man's eyes snapping up to his at that moment. A look of panic washed over his face when, in a fluid movement, Miles' took the weapon and swiftly disarmed it, letting the bullets drop from the chamber to the floor.

Mere seconds later, after setting the weapon down as far away as possible from them, he had Phoenix shaking in his arms. The attorney's hand still held out in midair, not quite ready to accept that it had been taken from him. Miles could feel him taking quick shuddering breaths against him.

Closing his eyes, in relief Miles wrapped his arms around the defence's trembling body. "Shhh…it's okay, you're ok." He poured forth in words of comfort, half directed at himself as well. He had so closely witnessed something nightmarish again.

Phoenix didn't move from his arms, but over the course of so many moments his hand slowly lowered from his head. His eyes opened wide in an unseeing glaze, looking somewhere passed Miles' shoulder. Hot pain welled up in his chest and he felt more of it silently gather in his eyes to pour over his cheeks. Miles continued whispering soothing words in his ear, rocking him like he was six again and had just had a bad nightmare. His body felt numb, mind frozen, his breath coming in rapid inhales and shaky exhales, too quick that he felt dizzy and lightheaded.

But Miles didn't leave. After staying like that for long silent moments, Miles eventually coaxed him into standing and lead him to his bed. Phoenix didn't offer any resistance when he felt a hand pushing him to lay down. Miles, shedding his coats, followed him into the bed, protectively securing the shaking man against himself once more. Phoenix's blue eyes took on a sudden questioning aspect, which Miles retorted with his own look that clearly said _you even have to ask why I'm staying? _ A small unexpected smile accompanied that, even if it didn't reach the darker haired man's eyes, it was a small enough reassurance that the Phoenix he knew was still in there. And he knew right then that he would do whatever it took to bring him out again.

Miles had done terrible things in his life too, and the hardest part had been _not _following the letter he had left on his desk, which he had fully intended to. He had contemplated suicide more times than he'd care to admit. But he had come to a realization while he was away that time, he could never change the past, he would never be able to correct all the mistakes he made. But he could use the rest of his life to absolve everything he had done wrong.

Watching Phoenix fall into sleep, the heavy burden he was carrying noticeably lifting, Miles saw how beautiful Phoenix really was. He had recognized the man's attractiveness before, but not like this. This fragile and unguarded expression he was showing right now was so trusting and relaxed that it felt like a privilege for Miles to even see it. Something he knew very few people had ever seen. He briefly wondered if he was at such peace when he was asleep. The first smile he had allowed to grace his face appeared suddenly at his next thought;

Maybe someday he would be able to ask Phoenix.


End file.
